The body of veteran politician and statesman Joash Sebakyalyawo Mayanja Nkangi is lying in state in Parliament, where several Members of Parliament led by First Deputy Prime Minister General Moses Ali, are eulogizing the fallen Katikiro of Buganda.
Nkangi, who served in various positions including at the ministries of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and Finance and Economic Planning, died at Nakasero Hospital on Monday aged 85, following a battle with pneumonia.
“Mayanja Nkangi served Uganda unselfishly. The country has lost an accomplished lawyer, economist, father and statesman,” Gen Ali told the house chaired by Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah, who had earlier read Speaker Rebecca Kadaga’s condolence message.
According to Gen. Ali, Mayanja Nkangi was “an honest person who cherished integrity. He held various positions and left with clean hands, whose contributions to our history” can’t be forgotten.
Opposition MP Roland Mugume Kaginda, who delivered a speech on behalf of Leader of Opposition Winnie Kiiza, said Uganda had lost ‘an icon of truth and a democrat’.
However, according to Mugume, the deceased statesman ‘died a frustrated man because Uganda Investment Authority has not lived to his aims and objectives’.
Eulogising his predecessor at the justice and constitutional affairs minister, Kahinda Otafiire said he was happy to follow in Mayanja Nkangi’s steps at the ministry.
The late Mayanja Nkangi is survived by a wife and children, including Josephine Mayanja Nkangi, who served as a top aide to Mr. Mbabazi during the 2016 presidential campaigns.
